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The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
COURT OF THE SANCTUARY; TABERNACLE; TEMPLE
By "court" (chatser) is meant a clear space enclosed by curtains or walls, or
surrounded by buildings. It was always an uncovered enclosure, but might have
within its area one or more edifices.
1. The Tabernacle:
The first occurrence of the word is in Exodus 27:9, where it is commanded to
make the court of the tabernacle." The dimensions for this follow in the
directions for the length of the linen curtains which were to enclose it. From these
we learn that the perimeter of the court was 300 cubits, and that it consisted
of two squares, each 75 ft., lying East and West of one another. In the westerly
square stood the tabernacle, while in that to the East was the altar of burnt
offering. This was the worshipper's square, and every Hebrew who passed through
the entrance gate had immediate access to the altar (compare W. Robertson
Smith, note on Exodus 20:26, Smith, The Old Testament in the Jewish Church, 435).
The admission to this scene of the national solemnities was by the great east
gate described in Exodus 27:13-16 (see EAST GATE).
2. Solomon's Temple:
The fundamental conception out of which grew the resolve to build a temple for
the worship of Yahweh was that the new structure was to be an enlarged
duplicate in stone of the tent of meeting (see TEMPLE). The doubling in size of the
holy chambers was accompanied by a doubling of the enclosed area upon which the
holy house was to stand. Hitherto a rectangular oblong figure of 150 ft. in
length and 75 ft. in breadth had sufficed for the needs of the people in their
worship. Now an area of 300 ft. in length and 150 ft. in breadth was enclosed
within heavy stone walls, making, as before, two squares, each of 150 ft. This was
that "court of the priests" spoken of in 2 Chronicles 4:9, known to its builders
as "the inner court" (1 Kings 6:36; compare Jeremiah 36:10).
Its walls consisted of "three courses of hewn stone, and a course of cedar
beams" (1 Kings 6:36), into which some read the meaning of colonnades. Its two
divisions may have been marked by some fence. The innermost division, accessible
only to the priests, was the site of the new temple. In the easterly division
stood the altar of sacrifice; into this the Hebrew laity had access for worship
at the altar. Later incidental allusions imply the existence of "chambers" in
the court, and also the accessibility of the laity (compare Jeremiah 35:4; 36:10;
Ezekiel 8:16).
3. The Great Court:
In distinction from this "inner" court a second or "outer" court was built by
Solomon, spoken of by the Chronicler as "the great court" (2 Chronicles 4:9).
Its doors were overlaid with brass (bronze). Wide difference of opinion obtains
as to the relation of this outer court to the inner court just described, and
to the rest of the Solomonic buildings-- particularly to "the great court" of
"the house of the forest of Lebanon" of 1 Kings 7:9,10. Some identify the two,
others separate them. Did this court, with its brass-covered gates, extend still
farther to the East than the temple "inner" court, with, however, the same
breadth as the latter? Or was it, as Keil thinks, a much larger enclosure,
surrounding the whole temple area, extending perhaps 150 cubits eastward in front of
the priests' court (compare Keil, Biblical Archaeology, I, 171, English
translation)? Yet more radical is the view, adopted by many modern authorities, which
regards "the great court" as a vast enclosure surrounding the temple and the
whole complex of buildings described in 1 Kings 7:1-12 (see the plan, after Stade,
in G. A. Smith's Jerusalem, II, 59). In the absence of conclusive data the
question must be left undetermined.
4. Ezekiel's Temple:
In Ezekiel's plan of the temple yet to be built, the lines of the temple
courts as he had known them in Jerusalem are followed. Two squares enclosed in stone
walling, each of 150 ft., lie North and South of one another, and bear the
distinctive names, "the inner court" and "the outer court" (Ezekiel 8:16; 10:5).
5. Temple of Herod:
In the Herodian temple the old nomenclature gives place to a new set of terms.
The extensive enclosure known later as "the court of the Gentiles" does not
appear under that name in the New Testament or in Josephus What we have in the
tract Middoth of the Mishna and in Josephus is the mention of two courts, the
"court of the priests" and "the court of Israel" (Middoth, ii.6; v. 1; Josephus,
BJ, V, v, 6). The data in regard to both are difficult and conflicting. In
Middoth they appear as long narrow strips of 11 cubits in breadth extending at right
angles to the temple and the altar across the enclosure--the "court of Israel"
being railed off from the "court of the priests" on the East; the latter
extending backward as far as the altar, which has a distinct measurement. The design
was to prevent the too near approach of the lay Israelite to the altar.
Josephus makes the 11 cubits of the "court of Israel" extend round the whole "court
of the priests, " inclusive of altar and temple (see TEMPLE; and compare G. A.
Smith, Jerusalem, II, 506- 9, with the reconstruction of Waterhouse in Sacred
Sites of the Gospels, 111). For the "women's court," see TREASURY.
Many expressions in the Psalms show how great was the attachment of the
devout-minded Hebrew in all ages to those courts of the Lord's house where he was
accustomed to worship (e.g. Psalms 65:4; 84:2; 92:13; 96:8; 100:4; 116:19). The
courts were the scene of many historical events in the Old Testament and New
Testament, and of much of the earthly ministry of Jesus. There was enacted the
scene described in the parable of the Pharisee and Publican (Luke 18:10-14).
W. Shaw Caldecott
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Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'COURT OF THE SANCTUARY;
TABERNACLE; TEMPLE'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.